Imagine that all your work is perfectly fine but when you are in a meeting you feel that some of the stakeholders are shifting in her chair, looking quite concerned. It is verry likely that you need a deep purpose. Or maybe you need to share it with them, or even if you share it they understand it differently. By not considering the deeper purpose of the project work, we head down the wrong path from the start. As project leader, you have to know why you’re doing the work and why it matters, even if no one ever tells you to do this or asks you for this information.
Leader inspires. Inspiring needs to understand the why. It gives direction and the meaning, it gives the energy, power and motivation to the how. The why paves the way to successful outcome in a deeper way. Projects no longer needs managers but leaders (https://hama-co.net/2024/03/24/pmbok-7-and-project-management-fundamental-changes/). So the why lead to the purpose which lays the foundation for successful outcomes to emerge. The what comes last and it could change at any time, an inexhaustible source of innovation.
To achieve the best outcomes, you need to elaborate the purpose and share it with others. To do so, you need to follow the steps bellow.
- Uncover the Need
At first, apple did not make a study requirement by asking customer in order to create ipods, never did Ford to invent and create a car. They go deeper and deeper by asking why as many times as possible in response to several consecutive answers. The go further to examine and express the deep motivation behind behavior and attitudes. By doing so, you will better understand how to approach the work.
Now, think about the purpose from the perspective of the business. If the outcome is successful, what will it enable the organization to do? A project that genuinely delivers a better product or service should help the organization meet its strategic goals.
- Identify the Audience
Every project creates change for someone. Maybe your project aims to create a new product/service/solution for specific stakholders. Consider what the audience have already shared about their needs, then think about the purpose from their perspective. What do they get, and why does it matter?
Identifying the audience helps identifying outcomes for them. The outcomes are Improvements that last for a stakeholder. A stakholder is an individual, group, or organization that may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by the product/service/solution. You need to be aware of the stakeholders’ impacts and levels of influence to understand how to address the changing environments.
- Envision the Impact: What will change look and feel like?
Projects translate ideas into outcomes for others. Imagine the impact if your project solves a problem or captures an opportunity for the people you serve. Prospection, or storytelling about the future, is one way to do this. Dream up an ideal scenario: If you are successful, what will it look and feel like, and for whom? Whose lives will be different, and how? Tell a story that envision impact on the potential costumer. As a human being we are eager to be associated with heroes, do what they do, think like them and feel them. One of the best ways to influence and inspire others is to tell a story.
- Define the Metrics
While traditional metrics are some of the most tried-and-true ways to measure the success of a complex project like revenue, customer satisfaction, and conversion rates—there are also many under-the-radar indicators we can look for beyond them. Understanding the purpose will help identify additional metrics that are more meaningful to your project. Metrics that are related to outcomes and not focused only on liverables. The purpose helps to envision the success, get creative and tune into things you might not think to track.
- Synthesize the Purpose
Synthesizing the need, audience, and impact we defined in the previous steps in the change statement will help to engage stakeholders toward the same goal. I find the frame proposed by IDEOU verry useful.
This project will enable us to ___________ (need) by serving ___________ (audience), and we will know it’s been successful when ___________ (impact).
Once we have all the pieces in place, you can reshape and refine them into something that shines—a strong and clear statement of purpose that will serve as lighthouse in the storm.
The statement should be Simple, articulated in a concise way. Measurable, so that you can measure the change to some degree qualitatively or quantitatively and actionable in terms that you will be able to execute it and to be aligned with the project’s scope and resources.